Happy Hobbit Day! Otherwise known as September 22, it’s a grand day and holds a lot of meaning for Tolkien fans around the world as both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins share their birthday today. Is is also the day Frodo set out towards Rivendell with The One Ring. What is not commonly known, is that this day also starts off another celebratory event, Feast Week.

Never heard of Feast Week? This fantastically yummy way to celebrate the life of Tolkien was begun by Anna Maria Polidori, an Italian member of the Tolkien Society. Starting on Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthday, participants “celebrate with an evening meal similar to the one the hobbits ate […] and/or engage in some activity described.” The official meal schedule includes Baggins’ Birthday, The Feast of Gildor, The Feast of Farmer Maggot, The Feast of Tom Bombadil, Prisoners of a barrow-wight, and The Prancing Pony.

As soon as the Middle-earth News staff found out about this celebration, we had to participate! Starting today, September 22, and continuing through the 29, each member of the staff will be posting the designated meal for that day and sharing their process, recipes, and photos with you. Our hope is to inspire each of you to cook your own meal and join in the tasty fun of Feast Week.

Feast Week, Day 1: Bilbo and Frodo’s Birthday

While the only requirements for today’s meal are wine and toast, I wanted to really go all out and celebrate the date Hobbit style. At the same time, I wanted to make sure the recipes I chose would be easy enough for anyone to put together on their own. So, without further ado, I present my Hobbit Day celebration meal:

Starter: Home-baked country white bread spread with creamed butter

If you find yourself unable to pull off an entire meal but still wish to partake in Feast Week, my suggestion would be to try this starter. Remember, the only requirements for today’s meal are wine and toast, so this is just a small step up. Plus, is there anything better than the smell of freshly-baked bread wafting through one’s house?

Making homemade bread can take quite some time, so my recommendation is to try something like Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade No Knead Bread Mix. Simply add water, let it rise, pop it in the oven, and voila! Freshly-baked bread. (Note: I chose a chardonnay that paired well with my roasted chicken, however, if you are skipping the main meal and serving on the requirements, feel free to pair it with whatever wine your taste buds fancy.)

Main Course: Roasted herb-topped chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes paired with a crisp chardonnay

What’s more “Hobbity” than mushrooms and po-ta-toes, precious?? I chose this recipe because it uses herbs you can grow at home, something I’m sure Samwise Gamgee would approve of. While I do grow my own rosemary, I haven’t tried sage or thyme, so I “gathered” them from my local grocery store. The best part about this recipe is that the herb mixture you use to coat your chicken with is the same you coat your mushrooms and potatoes with, which means a smaller amount of preparation time is needed.

Fondant can make cakes look ridiculously cool, as is proved by a recent post on Middle-earth News. But, in keeping with my “any Hobbit could make this at home” train of thought, I wanted to keep my birthday cake simple.

For the actual cake, you can whip up your own cake mix or simply buy a box at the store (I went for the latter to save on time). I used two 8” round pans and, once the cakes had baked and cooled, I went to work carving them. Basically, I made one round smaller than the other, as I don’t have a small professional small cake pan to bake with.

Using a small knife, take 1 cake round and trim 1- 1.5 inches of it’s sides. This will be the top of your cake.

Cut both cake rounds in half using a large bread knife, so you now have 2 large cake rounds and 2 small cake rounds.

Place bottom large cake round on a decorative cake dish. Add a dab of frosting and spread over top of cake round – not the sides, just the top.

Place second large cake round on top of the frosted bottom cake round. Again, add a dab of frosting and spread over top of cake round – not the sides, just the top.

Repeat the process with the two small cake rounds.

Coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting. This is your “crumb coat”, which means, it’s ok for cake crumbs to show.

Place frosted cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes until frosting is hard.

Coat entire cake with frosting again. This time, no crumbs show! (I love that bit!)

Using a cake decorator (or zip lock back with a bottom corner cut off), apply extra frosting around the bottom large cake round and bottom small cake round. This will ensure your berries stay put where you place them.

Decorate cake by placing berries around it’s tiers and edges.

Save one strawberry for the top of the cake – take a knife and cut small slits starting from the bottom and going towards the top. spread slits, so berry fans out.

Place strawberry on top. Take lots of photos. EAT THE CAKE.

The frosting recipe is by far my personal favorite. It’s not heavy like most homemade frosting recipes you come across. It’s “light” on the sugar, which is exactly what you want so it doesn’t over-power the sweet taste of the berries.

2 Tbl. of whipping cream (add or subtract, depending on how stiff you want your frosting)

Directions:

Place butter in mixer and beat on medium until butter is smooth and creamy

Pour powdered sugar in, one cup at a time

Mix in whipped cream, one Tbl. at at time

Beat on medium to medium high for about 2-3 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy

I went all out on berry buying: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and of course, strawberries. However, if berries aren’t in season where you live, get creative! Try rolling the sides of the cake in chocolate shavings, or decorative the tiers with flowers – whatever your little Hobbit heart desires.

Author: Arwen
The Creator and Executive Director of Middle-earth News. Arwen is a mother of two, an uber geek, loves all things Tolkien, pretends to understand LOTRO, and kicks ass at fantasy card games. She constantly quotes from The Muppets, Doctor Who, The Lord of the Rings, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate…. you get the point.